Lubricator.



s'rasragnsr 'asien GEORGE E. WITT, OF SAN FRANCISGO, CALIFORNIA.

LUBRICATQR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2l., i909.

Application filed September 9,'1908. Serial No. 452,282.

ATo all whm'n, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. WITT, citizen of the United States, residing in the city and count of San Francisco and State f of California, iave invented Inew and useful Improvements in Lubricators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to lubricating devices.

The objectof the invention is to provide a simple, practical, automatic self-feeding lubricator for lubricating bearings and other moving arts, in which the lubricating fluid is force 'to flow through the medium of compressed air, and which lubricator will only feed oil when the machine is running;

` also saving all oil .discharged from the coinpressor cylinder.

Lubricators and oilers are generally so constructed and operated that they will continue to feed oil, and consequently waste it, after lthe immediate need for the oil has ceased, as when the machinery is lying idle.

The invention consists of the parts vand the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in-which- Figure bricator to a cylinder of a compressor. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of my lubricator. Fig. 3 shows a modification.

The invention here shown is applied in conjunction with an air compressor A; the.

oiling device so arranged that it will not only keep the cylinder properly lubricated, but will lubricate all the other bearing parts of the machinery, and whenever the compressor stops, the How of oil to the various parts of the machine will cease; also any oil blown out of the compressor cylinder will be collected and savedas will be shortly described. i

The oiling device consists of a tank or reservoir 2 disposed in the air outlet 3, be tween the compressor and the receiver 4. The pipe 3 which in ordinary compressors opens into both ends of the cylinder, and in which are disposed the outlet valves 5, leads up into the reservoir 2, and discharges thereinto near the top thereof.

In the preferred form of construction, shown in Figs. l and 2, the end of the pipe 3, within the reservoir, has a cap 6 which is closed except for the disehar e openings 7 on its under side through whic the air and l shows the application 'of my lui occurs durin oil carried with it from the coinpi'essor cylinder is dischargeddownwardly into the reservoir and the body of contained oil. By this arrangement, considerable oil carried over from the compressor is saved which otherwise ordinarily goes to waste. The air escaping into the reservoir above .the body of oil passes thence outward through the continuation S of the discharge pipe to the rc- `ceiver 4; a check valve 9 preventing back.

thence out of the reservoir through a suitably paclied joint, and delivering oil'into a distributer ll. From this distributer eX- tend any desired number of oil feed pipes l2; the flowof oil to each pipe 12 being arts of the machine, or machinery,`

suitably controlled by an appropriate means,

as the needle va-lrves 13. One of these pipes l2 may lead to the center of the air compressor cylinder, as here shown, for the purpose ofoiling the interior of the latter, and the other oil pipes, of which there may be any number, may lead olf to various journals and other wearing par-ts of the machine, or machinery, needing lubrication.

As long as the compressor runs, the air pressure in the reservoir 2 will force the oil out of the latter, and up through the pipe l0 through the various channels to the parts to be lubricated. The moment the com pressor stops, the oiling will stop, because the closing of the check valve 9 will shut olf communication between the oiling devices and the receiver, and the air pressure in the y compressor falls. AThe moment the com pressor is startedup, the oiling operation is resumed automatically. This is of great advantage `because frequently with manually or mechanically controlled Oilers damage to the bearings or other parts ofthe machinery occurs by a failure to turn on the oilwhen the machinery is started up; or loss :of'oil l the hours of idleness'v of a machine by ailure, frequently due to the forgetfulness ofthe operator to turn ofi' the yping the oiling operations are employed., but

va pipe 14 with the air discharge pipe 3',

oil. Bymy arrangement, the turning on and off of the oil is automatically done by the start-ing and stopping of the compressor. Furthermore by interposing the oil reservoir in the air discharge pipe in the manne-r shown,-and having a perforated cap as 6, whatever oil is carried over from the compressor is intercepted and collected in the reservoir 2, and vprevented from passing on into the receiver.

lnjFig. I have shown a modification of vhc invention, in which practically the same means for automatically starting and stopwithout the advantage of collecting the oil passing out from the compressor through the air discharge pipe. In this case I. connect and lead this pipel up into the top of the oil reservoir 2 so that a constant pressure in the body of oil in the reservoir 2 is maintained while the compressor is running. The oil for hibricating purposes is forced out of' the reservoir 2 through the upwardly eXtending pipe 10 and into the distributer 11, thence to be distributed before.A ln this Acase as in the first one, the .flow of the oil is dependent on thc running of the compressor; when the compressor starts, the oil will start up, and when the compressor stops the oiling will automatically stop.

Any suitable means maybe eiuployedto till the oil reservoir. As here shown a gage glass l5 is suitably supported on the outside o't the reservoir, with its upper 4and lower ends opening into the reservoir, through suitable ports 16. Oil ted in at the top ot the union 17 at the lower end Voli which the upper end of the gage-glass is secured?L the iilling opening being normally closed by a screw-plug 18.

lla-ving thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to` secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The combination with an air coml iressor and a discharge i e thereof of a rei ceivdr with which the discharge pipe is connected, .a check valve between the`receiver and compressor, an oil reservoir interposed in the discharge pipe between the check valve and the compressor, saidv` discharge pipe opening into the reservoir whereby the oil contained therein is subject to the pressure of the air, and feed pipe connections between the reservoir and thev part-tube lubricated.

2. The combination with an air compressor, and a discharge pipe-thereof, of an oil reservoir into which said discharge pipe enters, supply connectionsbetween thereservoir and the part `to be lubricated, and a.v

valved air outlet from the" reservoir, said air discharge pipe delivering compressed air into the reservoir above the level of the oil lso'as to exert a pressure on the oil when the compressor is running, said pressure being relieved'when the compressor stops whereby the feed of oil is controlled by Athe operation of the compressor, ,y 3. .The combination with an air coml pressor and the discharge pipe thereof, of an oil reservoir into which said air discharge pipeV discharges, said air discharge .being above the level. of the oil in the reservoir, said oil reservoir having a valved. air outlet, said air discharge pipe having its end within the reservoir provided with a cover cap with underneath openings for the arresting within the oil reservoir otany oil passing through said air discharge pipe, and an oil discharge pipe froiiithe Areservoir extending down into the body of oil, with itA delivery end above the level of the oil in the reservoir.

ln testimony whereot1 I have hereunto` set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. WlTT. lVitiiesses z Cuantas A.. lnNrinLn,

.lamas MAsoN. 

